August 8, 1974: The Elkins Inter-Mountain Daily Newspaper Published in Parkersburg Due to Fire

On August 8, 1974, the Elkins Inter-Mountain published its daily newspaper, but it was far from business as usual. The August 8 issue had to be printed in Parkersburg because the newspaper’s building in Elkins had been destroyed by fire the day before.

The 48-year-old Nuzum had started her career as a staff reporter for the Grafton Sentinel.

Credit E-WV / West Virginia Humanities Council

Rather than closing up shop—or even taking a day off—the paper’s intrepid editor, Eudora Nuzum, and her staff cranked out the next day’s edition. Nine days after the fire, a new press arrived, and the Inter-Mountain was once again being printed in Elkins. During that time, all employees were paid, and the paper never missed an issue. The story made national news and was featured on Paul Harvey’s Rest of the Story radio program.

The 48-year-old Nuzum had started her career as a staff reporter for the Grafton Sentinel. When she became managing editor of the Sentinel in 1946, she was the first female editor of a daily newspaper in West Virginia. She also founded the weekly Preston Independent and helped revive the Mannington Times before moving on to the Inter-Mountain in 1953.